To Swallow Your Pride
by Galleon Eye
Summary: Set after Regina destroys the curse and everyone is sent back to the Enchanted Forest... or are they? After waking up in Storybrooke, Regina, Snow, Charming, Hook and Ruby join forces and set out to find Emma and Henry and return them to Storybrooke. Season three episode eleven spoilers. SWAN QUEEN.
1. Prologue

**So I think we were all mentally scarred by the episode yesterday. Because of this I just had to start writing. This is the prologue so hasn't been beta'd but the first chapter will be and I shall put it up in a couple of days provided there is some interest. **

**This fic is Swan Queen, I hope you all enjoy!**

**Disclaimer (this shall be the only one): I own nothing that you recognise… much to my regret.**

**The image I used is also not mine, if you know whose it is I shall of course credit it!**

Regina's eyes snapped open. She wasn't in the Enchanted Forest. She was in her bed, in her bedroom, in her house… in Storybrooke.

_What?!_

She threw back the covers and ran to her wardrobe, pulling out the first things she could find, she threw on a plain red blouse and zipped up a black pencil skirt. She decided make up could wait, right now, she needed answers.

She grabbed a coat from the closet under the stairs before making her way out of the door, heading into the centre of the town.

As she rounded a corner, the clock tower came into view, underneath it she could already see a crowd of people gathering. Snow and Charming appeared to be in the middle, surrounded by people demanding answers they couldn't give. They spotted her as she strode towards them.

"Regina!" Charming shouted, breaking free of the crowd and running towards her, Snow following closely behind him.

"Why are we still here? What happened?" Snow asked as she neared her.

"I have absolutely no idea." Regina replied. "We're meant to be back in the Enchanted Forest. I don't understand." Her brow furrowed and she looked around at her town.

"No one does." Charming muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Now would be a really good time for Rumple to reveal he's not dead."

Rumple grasped the edge of the well and heaved himself over the edge and onto the rough forest ground.

He stood up and brushed himself off, his gaze swept the area as he realised where he was. The last thing he remembered was kissing his father on the cheek as he killed them both. But here he was, and he had no idea why.

Suddenly his head snapped up and he took off, running towards where the town used to be. He had to know if Storybrooke was still there, if Belle was still there, if Bae was still there. He was halfway down the familiar road to the town before he realised that he wasn't limping. He looked at his hands –no golden scales. Odd. He needed answers and he knew just where to find them.

Storybrooke soon came into view and he slowed to a walk, his breathing deep and ragged. He could hear the babble of people and he was certain he knew where they were congregating. He continued walking towards the library and as it came into view he saw that at least half of the town's residents were indeed talking loudly outside its doors.

A little way to the left, he saw Regina, Snow and Charming talking and he made his way over to them.

"Now would be a really good time for Rumple to reveal he's not dead." He heard Charming sigh.

"Well, good thing for you dearies, I am somehow, still here. As are you it would appear." He said loudly causing them to all turn towards him.

"Rumple!" Snow and Charming rushed over to him and started bombarding him with questions. However, they washed right over his head as he saw Regina slowly making her way over to where he was standing. He could see tears in her eyes and he pushed past the Charming, wrapping his arms around her. The daughter he almost had.

Regina hugged him back, tears slipping down her face. "I thought you were dead." She stated bluntly as they withdrew. "You were my mentor and I thought you were dead."

She was fully aware of how childish she was sounding, but she couldn't think of a better way to phrase how she was feeling.

Rumple nodded, "So did I." he watched Regina wipe her eyes on the back of her hand.

Snow and Charming had watched the strange interaction without comment but decided it was time to say something.

"Do you have any idea why we woke up here instead of the Enchanted Forest?" Snow asked, stepping forwards towards Rumple.

"I don't." He replied, "But give me some time and I'm sure I will find an answer." He finished, a determined gleam in his eye.

"Rumple?" They quartet turned around to see Belle standing a hundred feet away, gazing at Rumple as though she were seeing a ghost.

"Belle." Rumple breathed before running towards and picking her up; both were crying and laughing at their reunion.

Snow, Regina and Charming all turned back towards each other.

"What do we do now?" Snow asked Charming.

"We try and get on with our lives as best we can." He replied, giving her a small smile. "Shall we see if Granny is feeling up to opening the diner yet?" He asked and she nodded in reply.

They had just started walking away when Regina called out to them.

"What about Henry and Emma?" She asked desperately.

Snow's eyes glazed over. "Even if the curse didn't work, doesn't mean your spell didn't too."

"But…" She trailed off, the thought of never seeing her son again even though they were in the same world rendering her speechless.

Before she could break down completely, she disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke and reappeared in front of her house. She unlocked the door with a flick of her wrist as tears started to fall down her cheeks. She grabbed her car keys before exiting the house again and heading towards her Mercedes.

Her mind blanked out as she drove towards Boston. She found solace in how her brain numbed itself and was only drawn from her state of dreaming when her petrol light started flickering irritatingly. She turned into the first gas station she could find and quickly filled her tank up before entering the store.

She approached the cash register and thankfully didn't have to wait to be served.

"Morning." The overly cheery woman opposite her said, attempting to engage her in conversation. "How're you today?"

"Number three please." Regina replied, making it perfectly obvious to the woman that she had no intention of talking to her more that was necessary.

"Right." The lady said simply. "That'll be eighty dollars please."

Regina handed her the money and accepted the receipt before making her way back to her car. She was just going to stuff the receipt into her wallet when she noticed the date and her eyes bulged. She ran back to the till.

"Is this the correct date?" She asked the woman.

"Yep," The lady smiled and responded, "sixteenth of December two thousand and fourteen."

Regina's head spun as she ran back to her Mercedes and jumped in. She put it in drive and turned out of the gas station, making her way back to Storybrooke.


	2. Chapter 1

**I was so overwhelmed by the response to the last chapter! I'm so flattered and thrilled you like the story. As a thank you, I'm updating faster than I perhaps would have. As requested by 'raspberry63' I have included why I like to think Regina can cross the town line without consequence. **

**I hope you all enjoy!**

Regina burst into the diner, her eyes frantically searching the booths for Snow.

"Regina, what the-?" Snow started, but as soon as the other woman recognised her she thrust the small slip of paper into her hand.

"The date Snow. Look at the date." Regina said breathlessly, aware that all eyes in the diner were focused on her.

Snow obliged, "Sixteenth of December two thousand and fourteen." She frowned and looked up at Regina, confused as to why she was so het up. Regina looked at her meaningfully, tamping down the urge to comment on the woman's idiocy. Realisation hit and Snow looked at the paper again, screeching, "Two thousand and fourteen?!"

"Let me see that." Granny snatched the paper from Snow and scanned it before sinking into the seat Snow had recently vacated. "Regina, are you sure it's not a mistake?"

"Obviously." Regina bit. Then she remembered herself and continued more calmly, "I asked a lady in the gas station."

"Why were you even at a gas station?" Ariel asked somewhat timidly from her seat by the window.

"I was…" Regina trailed off, not answering.

"She was on her way to Boston." Snow smiled sadly at her, understandingly.

"Why did you come back?" Charming asked, taking the receipt and expecting it for himself.

"Because… it's been a year." Regina struggled to find the right words. "Even if I could find them, I still wouldn't know what I'd find."

Snow put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"We'll find them, I promise." She said and Regina didn't know whether to be thankful for the reassurance or disgusted by the phrase.

"We need to find a way to get them back." Ruby, who had been standing silently behind the counter piped up. "Emma and Henry belong here. Deep down even they've got to know it." She shrugged.

"Ruby's right." Snow said, "We need to find a way to get them back."

"We need to find them first." Regina countered. "I think we need to pay Gold a visit."

Snow, Charming, Granny and Ruby followed her out of the door, leaving Ariel in charge of customers.

They burst into the shop, the bell jangling noisily, alerting Gold to their entrance. He and Belle stepped into the room from behind the curtain separator.

"Now I know I'm good, but even I cannot ne expected to find a reason for the recent turn of events in such a short time." He almost joked.

"That's the thing." Snow stepped forwards, "The turn of events isn't exactly recent."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

Charming handed him the receipt. Gold's eyes scanned over it until her reached the date.

"That is what she means." Regina said, moving to stand next to Snow. "We need a way to find Emma and Henry. We could probably find a way to get them here, we just don't know where they are. Do you still has your globe?" She asked, glancing around the shop.

"I'm afraid our dear captain is still in possession of that little artefact." Rumple replied.

Regina was out of the door before anyone else could move.

"Hook!" Regina called out, stepping aboard the Jolly Roger. "I know you're here. Save us all some time and get up here before I come looking for you."

The leather-clad figure of Hook stepped up from his quarters as the others joined Regina on deck.

"Where's the globe?" Regina asked, the second she saw him.

"Sorry love?" He asked, wiping his eye and squinting at the bright light.

"We need a way to find Emma and Henry." Snow jumped in.

"In case you hadn't noticed, we're still in Storybrooke, therefore we can get Emma and Henry back and with true love's kiss, they should both remember everything." Regina explained.

Hook nodded, trying to clear his head and process all this information. "It's just down there." He pointed to another flight of stairs and followed after the group who were already making their way to the globe.

"What's the plan then?" He asked as he entered the map room.

"We don't actually have one." Ruby shrugged. "But I'm guessing that now we have a way to find Emma and Henry, you'll be taking us to get them."

"Indeed," Regina nodded, standing next to the globe, "We'll think of a way to get them back once we've established where they are."

"And why, pray tell, do you think I'm going to take you all to them?" Hook asked, crossing his arms.

"Because if you don't, I'll make sure that your _precious_ little life isn't even worth-"

"Regina." Granny placed a hand on Regina's arm, pulling her away from Hook and stopping the threatening rant before it could escalate.

"Right…" Hook nodded slowly. "Okay then love. Do the honours." He directed his words to Regina and gestured towards the globe.

Regina straightened and turned towards it, she was just to reach out when Granny's voice stopped her.

"Before you set off, I think I'll get off this vessel. I've never been overly fond of the sea and as sweet as Ariel is, I doubt she'd be able to handle a hung-over Leroy at eight am." She smiled at them all, kissed Ruby on the cheek and exited the room.

When she was gone, Regina turned back and pricked her finger swiftly on the needle. She held her hand over the canvas as a drop of blood fell onto it and swirled around. Everyone gathered round as a map of Boston came into view.

"Right then, shall we?" As he started climbing the stairs, Snow's voice stopped him.

"Wait, I hadn't thought, don't we need a bean?"

Regina rolled her eyes and brushed past Hook on her way out.

"That's only when you're moving between worlds love." He said sympathetically before following Regina up onto the deck.

He emerged to see Regina casting an invisibility charm on the vessel –the same one her mother once had.

"Let's go then." She said, turning towards him. Her face was set.

Once they arrived in Boston harbour, they docked the invisible boat on a secluded area of the coast.

"What now?" Hook asked as everyone gathered on deck.

"You go and find them." Regina said simply. She produced a small photograph from her wallet and handed it to him. "I've charmed this, it was Henry's," her voice choked up, "it will lead you to them. Once you find them," She continued, handing him the picture, "I want you to somehow plant this in their apartment." She pulled a quarter out of her wallet. "It's duplicated and acts as a listening device, if it's close to them, we may be able to hear something useful and in the end, find a way to bring them home."

Snow looked at her. "That's such a good idea!" She exclaimed and Regina blinked at the compliment; she was unused to them.

"Alright." Hook took the quarter from Regina and put it in his breast pocket. "Do I go now?" he asked.

Regina's glare was enough of an answer for him and he made his way off the boat and down the pier. The others watched him until he was out of site.

Snow and Charming went below deck, intent on catching up on some sleep. They hadn't had much sailing through the night.

Regina sat on an upturned barrel and ran a hand through her hair. Ruby came and perched on one next to her.

They sat in silence for a while, admiring the sun as it peaked its first ray over the ocean.

"Why him?" Ruby asked, effectively breaking the tranquillity of the moment. "Why not you or Snow, or even me?"

Regina sighed before replying, "Not you Snow or Charming because you cannot step foot off this ship until we are back in Storybrooke. As far as I'm aware, the town line is active, however, due to the enchantment I cast on this God forsaken vessel, you can travel anywhere on it while keeping your memories. Besides, the three of you would be far too emotional if you saw Emma." She held up a hand as Ruby started to protest, "I know you may think you're terribly tough, but Emma is still your Goddaughter and one of your best friends. You would be a wreck." Ruby chuckled and Regina smiled slightly, "And not me because," she took a deep shuddering breath, "once I got there, I would never be able to leave."

"How come you're able to though?" Ruby elaborated at Regina's confused look, "Cross the town line I mean."

"I made sure I was able to when I cast the curse. The curse was tailored to my desires and while I wanted my happy ending, I also never wanted to be trapped anywhere again." Regina explained, looking down at her hands.

"Again?" Ruby asked, noticing Regina's slip-up immediately.

"Anywhere. Trapped anywhere." Regina quickly rectified, hoping the brunette she-wolf would accept her cover-up.

Ruby nodded. She knew that there were some things about one's past that you would rather were not revealed.

Emma looked up from her breakfast when she heard a loud knock on her apartment door. She looked at Henry, frowning.

"Who's that?" He asked her.

"I don't know, we're not expecting anyone." She replied. The knocking came again and she stood up. "Wait here." She instructed as she made her way to the door.

She opened it to find an oddly dressed man grinning at her.

"Swan, god to see you again!" He said, his English accent making itself known.

"I don't know who you are." Emma frowned, blocking the entrance to her apartment as he stepped towards her.

"I might have a way to make you remember." He replied.

_Here goes nothing._ Hook thought as he leant forwards and kissed Emma, throwing the quarter behind her. It rolled under a cabinet and out of sight.

Emma pushed him off her and kneed him in the nuts, making him stagger backwards.

"Worth a shot." Hook almost laughed as he hit the wall. "Listen Swan, your family's in danger."

"No." She replied, wiping her hand on the back of her mouth. "My family is here."

With that, she slammed the door in his face and made her way back to their living room.

"Who was that?" Henry asked, looking up at her as she walked in.

"I have no idea." She replied as she sat opposite him and began to eat her breakfast.

A crackling noise sounded from within her jacket pocket and Regina pulled out the duplicated quarter in time hear.

"No, my family is here."

Her eyes filled with tears when she heard Emma's voice. She knew that their son was close by. She knew he was safe, and for now, that was enough.


	3. Chapter 2

**Third chapter and I cannot thank you enough for the amazing response to the story! I am aware of how fast-paced my writing is, but while I enjoy reading long, poetic descriptions, I just haven't got the patience to write them, so thank you for just rolling with it. **

**This chapter is pretty bizarre but please just bear with. A sense of normalcy will return once our beloved characters are back in Storybrooke and I wanted to introduce the new, less aggressive dynamic into the Mayor-Sheriff relationship.**

**Enjoy!**

Regina's eyes drooped as she struggled to stay awake.

It was just after ten and Charming, Snow and Ruby were all fast asleep. Hook had gone to buy food three hours ago and she had no doubt he'd decided to visit a bar and spend all of the money there.

Her head fell onto the barrel she was now leaning against and she was jolted from her light sleep. The quarter was placed in the middle of the barrel and she was meant to be listening until the Swan-Mills household fell asleep.

She had listened to their morning conversation before Emma dropped Henry at school and went to work herself. Regina smiled upon finding out that Emma had found herself a place in the local force.

The quarter lay silent until four o'clock when Henry came home from school. He was talking on his mobile and she could hear the smile in his voice while he spoke to his friend. At six a woman Henry called 'Tabitha' came round. From what Regina heard, it appeared that Emma would be stuck at work until quite late and her elderly downstairs neighbour was tasked with looking after Henry for the evening.

Henry had of course grumbled about being too old for a baby sitter, but the protests were weak and short. She could tell he had a fondness for the woman and instantly felt her liking for the unknown lady grow.

Henry had only just got to bed when she heard the front door click open and Emma's awkward shuffle enter.

"Thank you so much for this Tabs." The familiarity of the blonde's voice made Regina smile, "There was a hit and run just outside the city, I had to track down the guys who did it."

"It was nothing." Tabitha replied, "You know I like spending time with him. He's grown into such a mature young man."

Regina's chest swelled at the praise. Henry might not remember it, but it was still her care for him that turned him into such a gentleman.

"I'll see you around Emma." Tabitha continued and her footsteps neared the door.

"Actually Tabs," Emma's called after her, "do you think we could talk for a moment? I… I need to ask you something."

The footsteps grew fainter and it appeared the older woman had moved back into the apartment.

"Certainly darling." Couch springs groaned, "What's troubling you?"

"Uh… well it's Henry." Emma said as the couch cried out again. "I'm not happy with his school. He doesn't seem to be learning well at all and this neighbourhood… it's started going downhill. I'm worried."

"You're thinking of moving again." Tabitha stated, with no room for discussion. "Where to?"

"I don't know." Emma sighed, "I'm not saying I definitely will, I'm just saying that if I hear of somewhere that looks really good I'll consider it."

"Do what you think is right by your son." Tabitha replied.

"No chance you'd come with us?" Emma asked hopefully, Tabitha laughed.

"I'm afraid I'm too set in my ways here dear. But I'd come and visit if you want."

"Thank you." Emma's voice was full of gratitude.

"But to be honest darling, it sounds like you've already decided you want to move and are just looking for the right place now."

With that, Tabitha stood and left. Regina grinned as she formulated the perfect plan.

It was a Saturday. Emma had just dropped Henry at soccer practise and was looking forward to relaxing. She climbed the steps up to their apartment building and punched in the code.

As she entered the lobby, she saw Tabitha getting her mail. She decided she should do the same and offered the woman a smile as she got out her key and opened her letterbox.

She riffled through the various letters.

_Bill, bill, bank statement, bill, pizza coupon, catalogue, bill, leaflet._

She frowned at the leaflet. There were no pictures on it, just writing, it said:

**Storybrooke, Maine**

**A picturesque little town set just south of Boston.**

**Numerous homes of varying sizes need to be bought.**

**Excellent school system and a close-knit community.**

**To find out more go to ' . '**

**Type in password 'charming'**

Emma's eyebrows raised and she turned to Tabitha, "Did you get one of these?"

"I did." Tabitha pulled out hers and looked at it, "If I believed in all that 'fate' nonsense, I'd tell you it's a sign from the universe." She jested, smiling, "You should look at the website."

"Yeah, I should." Emma raced up to her apartment, thoroughly excited.

She got the website up and inputted the password.

She gasped.

The webpage was intricately detailed and showed pictures of the beautiful town. She quickly read through all the documents- there were many. They detailed events, homes, business, jobs, projects, officials, the Sheriff's department, the schools… basically anything Emma could have wanted to know about.

**If interested in moving to this lovely little town, please contact the Mayor on ' '**

Emma bit her lip, thinking. It was perfect. The crime-rate was the lowest in the state, the schools were superb and there was a lovely house she'd seen that she could easily afford if she dipped into her savings.

She took a deep breath and opened her emails.

Regina had rushed to the nearest library early that morning. She quickly accessed her citrix and set up a mock website using her files. She then designed a basic leaflet, she posted leaflets in all the letterboxes but only two had the correct password needed for the website: Emma's and Tabitha's.

After delivering the leaflets she rushed back to the library and logged back onto her account. Then, she waited. It had been just over two hours when her inbox flashed up.

She took a deep breath and opened her emails.

'_Dear Madame Mayor,_

_I saw an advertisement for your charming town and am very much interested in joining the community. I have a son aged thirteen and am currently unhappy with the area in which we live._

_I have attached my credentials so you may decide if we are acceptable. _

_I was extremely impressed by everything Storybrooke has to offer and am particularly interested in the house '107 Mifflin Street'._

_Please get back to me as soon as you can._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Emma Swan'_

Regina's eyebrows raised slightly about the array of vocabulary the former Sheriff has displayed and concluded that she must really want to move to Storybrooke. She gasped however when she saw the house Emma had picked –it was directly opposite her own.

She only hesitated momentarily before tapping out a reply.

'_Miss Swan, _

_I have glanced over you credentials and while I noticed you had faced some time in a juvenile detention centre, you seem to have your life perfectly ordered now and I am pleased to inform you that should you want it and can pay a deposit on the house, '107 Mifflin Street' is yours. _

_I have attached the town's details so you may make the deposit. Once you have paid it, I will see that the house is fit for you to move into when you please. _

_After making the deposit, please email me informing you have done so and when you plan on moving to Storybrooke._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Regina Mills'_

Regain breathed as she finished and decided to wait a moment to appear as though the mayor of the town had better things to do than immediately reply to emails from strangers.

She could however, only wait for five minutes before hitting send and hoped the blonde would reply as quickly as she had.

She didn't have to wait long. Not three minutes later, she received a reply.

'_Madame Mayor,_

_Thank you so much. I've paid the deposit and would like to move in as soon as possible._

_Henry and I will be there by next Friday. I cannot give an exact date as packing may take some time._

_Thank you,_

_Emma Swan'_

Regina grinned and tapped a quick.

'_Thank you for telling me Miss Swan. Storybrooke shall be awaiting your arrival.'_

She had disposed of the formalities in her desperation to get back to the ship and tell the others of what she'd done. If Snow tried to hug her, memory loss or not, she was pushing her out of the boat.

"Kid. Sit down, I need to talk to you." Emma said as soon as Henry entered the apartment.

He deposited his bag on the floor by the door and moved to sit on the couch.

Emma sat down on the coffee table in front of him.

"How would you feel about moving?" She asked, trying to gage his reaction.

Henry kept his features blank (something she was sure he hadn't learnt to do from her) as he said, "Where to?"

She passed him the laptop, it was still on the Storybrooke town page.

He flicked through the gallery, then the various different pages and smiled up at his mother.

"You already bought a house didn't you?" He asked and Emma chuckled nervously.

"Uh, yeah. So… what d'you think?" She looked at him hopefully.

"Don't get me wrong ma, I love the city and all… but school's pretty shit-"

"Language."

"Right, sorry. Basically, it looks really cool." He finished, grinning at his mother.

"What about your friends, aren't you sad to be leaving them behind?" She bit the inside of her cheek, she wanted to be certain he wouldn't regret the move and blame her.

"Well, they're my friends I guess, but none of us are like super-good mates." He replied, frowning slightly. "So," he recovered, "when do we move?"

"I told the Mayor we'd be there by Friday." She breathed, elated at his positive reaction.

"Awesome!" He jumped up from the couch and ran to his room yelling over his shoulder, "I'll pack!"

Emma's grin widened. It was all happening so fast. It was crazy. I felt like a sign.

Somehow, it felt right.


	4. Chapter 3

**Next chapter! I have done as requested in one review and added in a couple more original characters. It has also been pointed out to me that my American geography knowledge is lacking, so I apologise. **

**I felt Regina was being a bit too nice so decided to return her sass and allowed her to have a lively little rant at Snow. **

**Hope you all enjoy!**

The Jolly Roger docked in the Storybrooke harbour and Granny instantly enveloped Ruby and Snow in a joint hug.

"What happened? How did it go? Where's Emma?" She asked her granddaughter.

"Well, I suppose it's up to Regina to tell everyone." Ruby grinned at the woman who shifted uncomfortably. She was unused to such favourable attention.

Regina smiled slightly at the small group who had gathered on the dock before walking over to Snow and speaking quietly in her ear.

"I think we need to hold a town meeting to tell everyone what has happened. You also need to tell them you've re-instated me as Mayor and I doubt people are going to be very forthcoming with their congratulations." She said levelly.

"That's, a very good idea Regina." She smiled encouragingly at the older woman, choosing not to comment on the last thing she said. She turned to the crowd, "Town meeting in the Town Hall in one hour. Spread the word, I want everyone there!"

The dwarves were all there and Leroy immediately took charge.

"Right boys, spread out. Knock down the doors if you have to. Tell them it's by order of the Queen." He bowed slightly at Snow in jest, before taking off after his brothers.

Snow continued to those still present, "Regina and I will go to the Town Hall, if everyone else could help spread the word, it would be much appreciated."

Regina raised an eyebrow at her but Snow merely grabbed her arm and started pulling her in the direction of their apparent destination.

"We need to talk." Snow said once they were far enough away from the crowd.

"I don't like the sound of that." Regina rolled her eyes.

"I know you're doing this for Henry, so I don't want you finding a way to restore his memories but not Emma's." Snow said quickly.

Regina stopped walking.

"Why on earth would I do that?"

Snow back tracked to where Regina was standing and looking at her in confusion.

"I am well aware that you and my daughter have never gotten on and-"

"And what? You think I'll just send her packing?! Contrary to what you wish to believe Snow, I do _not_ hate Emma anymore. That may not have always been the case, but things change and I find her company endlessly more bearable than yours. We share a son and I couldn't do that to either of them." Regina swallowed and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "'Them' being my family. Emma and Henry. As odd as that sounds to both of us, it's true. Emma is the only one who saw me as _Regina_, even our son saw me as the Evil Queen but she never gave up on me and I will never give up on her."

Regina's breath was a shuddering one this time and she wondered slightly what she meant by the last sentence. She looked up to see Snow looking at her strangely.

"What?" She snapped.

"You called her Emma." Snow said quietly.

Regina rolled her eyes once more and took off towards the Town Hall, she was now dealing with her storm of emotions as well as the woman's incompetency.

_This is going to be a long day._

.

.

.

"Order please." Charming shouted, banging his hand on the lectern at the front of the hall.

Snow and Regina sat on chairs to his left and the three of them were pleased that to see that most of the town were indeed there. Regina spotted Neal a few rows back and her lip curled. If he loved Emma so _dearly_ he would obviously be thrilled to know she was coming back by the hand of the woman he hated. Regina smirked.

"Thank you." Snow smiled at Charming as she stood up and took his place. "I know how quickly word spreads around here so I'm sure most, if not all of you are now aware that a year has passed while we were… not aware. We don't know why we are all still in Storybrooke, nor do we know why an entire year has passed. What we do know is that Emma and Henry are coming back to Storybrooke."

Applause and cheers erupted all around the room and Regina watched Neal hug Marco who was seated next to him. She rolled her eyes and looked back at Snow as the celebrations quietened down.

"However, they do not have any recollection of their time here and until we work out how to return their memories, we need you all to act as though you are meeting them for the first time. Ask them questions about themselves, establish new relationships with them. Hopefully though, it won't be too long before we know how to restore them to their former selves." She smiled around the room and people smiled back at her. "The fact that they are even coming back at all is thank to the woman sitting behind me." Snow turned to her and smiled, encouraging her to join her. Regina obliged, coming to stand next to Snow, her gaze downcast. "And because of this, it is my pleasure to reinstate Regina as Mayor of Storybrooke."

The hall was silent. When Regina made to move back to her seat however, Charming started clapping. He looked around the room meaningfully and people started to join in. Many were unsure whether or not they should clap the Evil Queen but took lead from their King and Queen and decided to trust her, she had after all held the job for twenty eight years.

Regina was shocked by the response but smiled modestly all the same. Gestured for her to speak and she turned back to the lectern.

"Thank you." She started awkwardly, "Emma and Henry should be arriving on Friday at the latest so I will need some people to get a house ready for them to be staying in."

"Where are they going to live?" Someone called out.

Regina took a deep breath, "Emma requested she live at 107 Mifflin Street. If you are willing to help, please see me after the meeting." She stepped back and returned to her seat.

"Well done." Charming whispered to her as Snow dismissed everyone.

She simply nodded in response. She stood and made her way down the stairs and off the stage. A group of about twenty people approached her and she raised her eyebrows, surprised.

"You're all willing to help?" She asked and received nods and a few murmured 'yes's in response. "It's three o'clock now, may I request you are at Emma's house in half an hour? That should give you time to change if you wish. I shall let you in, then it will mainly be removing sheets, dusting, hoovering and putting sheets on beds." She smiled as they left and she made her way back to her own house. She needed to change.

.

.

.

After she'd changed and let the army of cleaners into Emma's new house, Regina made went back to the Town Hall.

She walked into her old office and smiled before sitting down at her computer as though she hadn't had a break from her job. There was a mountain of paperwork on her desk that Snow had neglected to look over and she snorted when she saw the date of some of them.

She absentmindedly opened her emails and was surprised to see that the top one was from Emma. She opened it quickly.

'_Madame Mayor,_

_Henry was very keen on moving and packing has taken much less time than expected. I hop it won't be inconvenient for us to arrive tomorrow?_

_Emma Swan'_

Regina grinned at the way the Sheriff valiantly stuck to her use of formal references and replied in style.

'_Miss Swan,_

_That would be perfectly acceptable. Please make your way to the Town Hall when you arrive and I will show you to your new home personally._

_Mayor Mills'_

Regins smiled as she hit send and was just about to start working again when a knock resounded around the room.

"Come in." She called, confused as to who would be there.

"Uh, Regina, hi. I mean Madame Mayor now I suppose." Tinkerbell shifted awkwardly on her feet as she walked over to the desk.

"I hardly think we need formalities Tinkerbell, how may I help you?" Regina asked, sitting up strighter in her chair.

"Well, you're Mayor and I'm in need of a job." Tink replied, looking at Regina for the first time since entering the office, "I was wondering if you needed a secretary." She finished, smiling hopefully.

Regina frowned, she hadn't thought of replacing her secretary. She did need one after all, why not TInk?

"The job's yours." She smiled at the small fairy. "Will you need help working out how to use a computer?" She asked helpfully.

"I think I'll be able to figure it out." Tink grinned, "I'll just magic it on and go from there."

Regina grinned back at the fairy's optimism. "Yours is the desk downstairs by the front door. Come and get me if you need help with anything."

Tinkerbell practically skipped out of the room calling over her shoulder, "Thank you!"

Regina settled and turned back to the document she'd been looking over when Snow burst into the room. She refrained from reprimanding her for not knocking.

"I just thought I'd check to see how you were getting on." Snow smiled at her, obviously trying to reconcile.

"Apart from the mountain of paperwork you've left for me, it's all fine, thank you." Regina smiled with tight lips, "Oh, Emma and Henry are arriving tomorrow. I will call you when they've settled in and you can introuce yourself as Henry's new teacher if you wish." Snow beamed. "Oh, and well done for reminding the townsfolk to refrain from mentioning magic around the two of them. I hadn't actually thought of that."

Snow's smile widened at the praise, likening her to an affirmation seeking puppy.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Snow." Regina dismissed the woman.

She needed to collect herself and find a way to organise her thoughts before she saw her son.

_Tomorrow._

She smiled.

_Tomorrow!_

**Which means that Regina and Emma will meet again next chapter! I hope you're all ready for that!**

**Thank you for reading.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Sorry this took so long! Christmas kept us all busy, I'm sure.**

**Anyway, here is the destined… second first meeting? If that makes sense?**

**I hope you enjoy!**

Regina looked at the house before her. From the outside at least, 107 Mifflin Street looked flawless. Pink roses climbed the white walls and the whole thing looked like something from a fairy tale. Regina scoffed at the expression before walking up the now leaf-free path to the front door.

The floor plan was similar to her own house, but with a few less rooms. The floors were polished and every room was neat as a pin. Basic furniture had been provided, but the bookcases and shelves remained empty for the Swans' possessions.

Regina made her way up the curling staircase at the back right of the hall, her hand sweeping along the polished mahogany as she made her way to what must be the master bedroom. Fresh sheets were on the bed and the one in the room down the hall that she supposed would belong to Henry. Her heart twinged at the thought of seeing her again and she decided that the house was sufficiently presentable before leaving.

She re-crossed the road and got into her Mercedes, heading towards her office in the Town Hall. It was only nine o'clock so she wasn't surprised that Emma and Henry weren't there yet. If Miss Swan was anything like her son, she favoured lie ins. This combined with the three hour drive to the city meant that she expected them by about one at the earliest.

Sighing, she released from her thoughts and got out of the now parked car. She could hold herself together for four hours until she saw her son.

As she entered the building she saw Tinkerbell sitting at her secretarial desk and smirked. The fairy was wearing a pencil skirt that was much too tight and far too short for work and an oversized, flowery blouse that Regina had to assume was borrowed from Snow.

"Good morning Tinkerbell." She greeted the pixie who was frowning at her computer screen, confused.

Tink jumped upon hearing the Mayor's voice and quickly stood up.

"Good morning Regina." She chewed her lip and furrowed her brow in thought before continuing, "I was wondering how you… uh… turn it on?" She raised her shoulders and grinned cheekily.

Regina's smirk widened before she made her way over to the desk and pressed the on button.

"Magic didn't work then I see?" She joked and the fairy scowled.

"Well it would have if I'd actually known _what _to do." She said, adding proudly, "And I did work out how to use this."

"It's called a telephone, dear." Regina supplied when Tinkerbell pointed at the device.

"Telephone, got it." Tink grinned, "Thanks Regina. There are letters on your desk too." She finished and sat back down, drawing her chair into the desk and starting tapping random keys on her keyboard.

Regina smiled before continuing to her office. When she got in she saw that there were indeed a lot of letters on her desk.

She set her briefcase down beside her chair and pulled the precarious pile towards her. She frowned when she saw how far back some of them dated. Snow's incompetency in finding a deputy Mayor while they were in Neverland no doubt. She grabbed a letter opener and slit the first open.

.

.

"Excited kid?" Emma looked over at Henry briefly as they sped past a sign saying 'Welcome to Storybrooke'.

"Yeah," he grinned at her, "I think this is gonna be a nice place."

"You haven't even seen the town yet." Emma objected, "Or the house."

"I know, I just have a feeling." Henry shrugged.

Truthfully, he had felt a warm sensation rush over his body when they passed the sign and eyed his mother in his peripheral. If she'd felt it, she certainly wasn't showing any signs. He turned his attention back to the road as they turned a corner and were presented with what appeared to be the centre of town.

Emma pulled the car over when she saw a diner.

"Come on kid, better eat before we meet the Mayor." She grinned at him and they both got out of the car.

Henry walked around to stand next to her and she looked up at the building before making her way up the path, her son in tow.

When the entered a hush fell over the restaurant and all eyes landed on them before a tall, pale waitress came out of the kitchen.

"Stop gawking at the fresh meat." She said loudly and everyone quickly turned back to their company, all talking animatedly.

Emma shook it off and led Henry to the counter where the waitress was standing.

"That obvious we're new huh?" She joked as Henry leapt onto a stool beside her.

"Everyone knows everyone in Storybrooke." The waitress leaned in conspiratorially and Henry laughed, "So, yeah. Basically." She smiled at Emma as she straightened up. "What would you two like then?"

"Two hot chocolates please." Henry supplied, grinning at his mum.

"Coming right up. I'm Ruby by the way."

"Emma, and this is Henry." Emma gestured to her son as Ruby turned to the hot drink machine.

"So, what brings you to Storybrooke?" She asked over her shoulder.

While Emma fed off some story about coming to live there, Ruby squeezed her eyes tightly shut and willed herself not to cry now that she was confronted by her best friend. She opened her mouth and let out a breath, her eyes on the ceiling before turning back around and placing two cups on the counter.

"Cinnamon?" She asked innocently, "It's kind of a Storybrooke tradition." She winked at Henry who took the cinnamon shaker from her.

He felt as though he knew the woman but just couldn't place her. He shook off the thought and sprinkled cinnamon on the two cups before nudging one towards his mother.

"I think you were right Henry." Emma smiled at him after Ruby had walked away to serve other customers. "I think this is a nice place."

.

.

Regina had been working for two hours straight, simply glad to be back, when she heard the unhealthy exhaust of a certain yellow death trap pull up outside the Town Hall.

She pushed her chair away from the desk and turned it around to face the window, peering out delicately.

Her heart jumped to her mouth when she saw Henry get out of the car. He had grown in a year and she had no doubt that, negative heels, he would be taller than her. She wiped her eyes on the back of her hand as Emma got out of the car on the other side and nudged him towards the entrance. She could see their easy, playful banter from where she sat and she couldn't tell if her heart was mending or breaking all over again.

Turning back to her desk, she pretended to be deeply engrossed in the files in front of her when her intercom buzzed.

"Madame Mayor, a Miss Swan and her son are here to see you?" Tinkerbell's voice crackled.

She pressed the button and only hesitated slightly before clearing her throat and replying.

"Send them up."

She waited with bated breath as she heard footsteps approaching her door.

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Come in." She desperately hoped she sounded aloof.

She looked up when she heard the click of the door and had to supress a fresh surge of tears when she saw Emma enter with Henry behind her.

"Miss Swan." She smiled a genuine smile as she stood and made her way around her desk. "It's a pleasure to finally meet." She extended her hand towards the Sheriff.

Emma took a deep breath before opening the door.

She was sure that Mayors were not meant to be _that _attractive. The woman who looked up at her looked like an olive-skinned goddess, she concluded, and immediately decided she wanted to get to know the woman properly.

She took the hand that was extended to her and shook it smiling.

"Nice to meet you too Madame Mayor."

Regina smiled before turning to her son.

"You must be Henry." She didn't bother supressing her grin and held her out to him as well, knowing her son would appreciate being treated like an adult.

Henry smiled importantly and reached out to shake her hand. When their fingers touched however, he pulled back sharply, as though burnt.

Regina looked at him, concern bordering on self-loathing shone in her eyes.

"Sorry, electric shock." Henry smiled at her.

She shook her hair back and smiled, relief flooding her features.

"That's quite alright." She turned back to Emma. "I presume you would both very much like to see your house. If that's the case I can bring the appropriate paperwork with us and you can complete it after viewing the property?" She asked.

Emma grinned, "That sounds perfect, doesn't it Henry?"

Henry nodded enthusiastically and Regina smiled again.

"Great, well, if you'll follow me," she picked up her briefcase, "I'll drive and you follow in your dea- car."

.

.

"Wow."

"Wow."

Emma and Henry said at the exact same time as they stood at the end of the path, looking at 107 Mifflin Street. Regina smiled.

Emma's was breathless and awestruck. Henry's was excited and enthusiastic.

"Would you like to see the inside?" She asked from behind them and they hurriedly parted so she could walk between them and unlock the front door.

She did so and stood back as Henry barrelled past her. Emma followed at a slower pace, trying to soak in every detail.

It was perfect.

She turned to Regina and the woman was shocked to see tears in her eyes.

"Thank you. For… everything." She smiled at the woman, controlling her emotions.

"I'm only going along with your requests, dear." Regina pointed out.

"But it's all amazing so I'm going to thank you for it anyway." She threw one last smile at the Mayor before following Henry up the stairs.

Regina smiled to herself before following them as well.

"It's huge!" She heard Henry exclaim and followed his voice to the master bedroom.

"I'm afraid this is my room kid." Emma grinned at him.

Regina stopped and stood in the doorway.

Henry had flung himself atop the giant super-king-sized bed and Emma was standing next to the bed with her hands on her hips.

"But maaaaaaa!" Henry whined.

"No buts, it's mine." Emma grinned and Henry pouted.

"I think I'll leave you two to get properly acquainted with the house." Regain said, alerting them to her presence. "At three o'clock I'm to take you to the school and introduce you to Miss Mary Margret Blanchard who is to be Henry's teacher." Henry sat up upon hearing his name. "Until then, I live right across the street, so I'll be there if you need anything."

She smiled at the two of them before making her way downstairs. She only made herself leave by reminding herself that she'd be seeing them both again very soon.

She dropped the set of keys into a bowl on the cabinet next to the door and was just closing it behind her when a voice called out to her.

"Regina! I mean, Madame Mayor."

She turned around to see Emma stop in front of her. The blonde hesitated a minute before smiling and saying, "Thank you again. I think Storybrooke seems pretty perfect."

Regina merely smiled politely but genuinely before making her way home.

She failed to notice the blonde who stood in the doorway, watching her leave.


	6. Chapter 5

**Sorry it took so long! I've just gone back to school and my teachers have just gone "HAVE ALL THE HOMEWORK" I do however believe this is the longest chapter to date. So enjoy my lovelies. **

At three o'clock, Regina appeared before 107 Mifflin Street for a third time that day. She rang the bell three times, all to no avail, before frowning and taking a few steps back to look up at the first floor windows.

"Emma? Henry?" She called, lifting her hand and squinting her eyes against the blaring sun.

She took a few steps backward again, hearing laughing and giggling coming from around the back of the house. Carefully picking her way across the grass, she opened the side gate and entered the garden.

As she stepped out from the shadow of the house, she was immediately hit in the side by a blast of icy cold water.

"What on Ear-" her second sentence was cut short when a second stream of water hit her, this time coming from her left.

"Kid! Cut it out!" She caught Emma's humour-filled voice coming towards her and lifted her gaze.

"You hit her first!" Henry protested, dropping his water gun on the grass and making his way over to the two ladies who stood staring at each other.

When Regina looked up, she had gasped, Emma was standing directly in the sun and combined with her golden mane, she was practically glowing. She looked breath-taking.

When Emma caught Regina's eye she was overcome with how, dare she say, adorable the woman looked. She was flustered and sported a perplexed expression full of innocence that made Emma smile. At the same time she also managed to look ridiculously sexy, but Emma thought she probably shouldn't think about the mayor in way.

Both women started when Henry loudly interrupted,

"Why are you two looking at each other like that?"

Regina quickly amended her thoughts. No. Miss Swan was not 'breath-taking' in any way. She was merely different and that had shocked Regina into thinking odd thoughts.

Emma watched Regina's mask slip back on and walls rebuild themselves. She hadn't even noticed they were there in the first place.

"No reason Henry." Regina smiled at her son and lifted her hand, her aim to brush the hair out of his eyes. She stopped herself quickly though and returned her hand to her side, that wasn't something a near stranger would do. That's what she was to Henry now: a stranger.

"Sorry about the water by the way." Emma chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. "We got pretty hot unpacking and Henry thought this would be a good way to cool down." She looked pointedly at her son who shrugged in response. "Do you wanna, uh, change before we go?"

Regina looked down at herself to review the damage.

"No, I don't think that will be necessary thank you, you only got my coat." She smiled at the blonde. "We should go and meet Ms Blanchard though. There seems little point taking two cars, we can all go in mine if you wish?"

Henry and Emma both drooled at the prospect after following the mayor to Mifflin Street earlier that day. They had spent the whole drive talking about the beauty that was Regina's Mercedes.

"That would be awesome!" Henry grinned at the brunette whose breath caught in her throat upon seeing her son smile at her like that.

"If you want to take Henry over, I'll just lock up and follow you." Emma said graciously before making her into the house through the back door.

Regina turned to Henry, "Well then young man, how would you like to sit in the front seat." She whispered as they made their way around the side of the house and across the road.

Eyes widening at the prospect, Henry nodded enthusiastically before catching himself.

"Will ma mind?" He asked, looking up at her in genuine confliction.

"I think Miss Swan will survive for one car drive." She laughed as she unlocked the car and Henry jumped into the passenger seat.

"Are these seats leather?" Henry asked, awestruck as she slid into her seat on the other side of car.

"They are indeed." She smiled, happy with his interest.

.

.

"I still can't believe the kid made me ride in the back! And you let him!" Emma protested, shutting the car door with a little more force than was necessary.

"Oh, grow up Miss Swan. Although I did just catch you in the middle of a water fight so I suppose I won't raise my hopes." Regina replied, as the woman walked around the car and the two followed Henry up the steps to the school.

Emma's mood lightened a little at the woman's comment and she graciously held open the door for her as they entered the building.

Henry was busy looking at wall displays and so didn't notice a small brunette with a pixie style haircut walk up the corridor.

"You must be Miss Swan." Mary Margaret grinned when she saw her daughter and grandson walk through the door.

Regina could see the slight twitch of her hand and concluded the woman was refraining from throwing herself at the child she thought she would never see again. She could relate.

"Please, call me Emma." The blonde smiled and stepped forwards, reaching out to shake the woman's hand.

When their hands connected however, they both jumped slightly.

"Uh, electric shock." Emma laughed, "Sorry. Anyway, this is my son Henry. Regina tells me you'll be his teacher."

"I will indeed." Mary Margaret smiled before extending her hand towards Henry, who stepped forwards and shock it. "It's a pleasure to meet you young man. School finishes in half an hour so I thought you might like to spend the last portion of the day with your future classmates. If that's alright with you both?" She addressed Emma and Regina.

Regina noticed the woman's slip-up immediately.

"'You both.' Miss Blanchard?" She glared at the woman pointedly.

"Um, err, I mean you. Emma. You can pick him up in half an hour and I'll give you all the appropriate information about the school and can answer any questions you may have." She clarified, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"Sure. Is that okay with you kid?" Emma asked, resting on one knee to be more level with Henry.

"Sounds great ma." He hugged his blonde mother before following after Mary Margaret.

"So…" Emma started awkwardly, turning to Regina, her hands resting in her back pockets. "Anywhere we can go for half an hour? I mean. I. I can go. I'm sure you're a really busy woman." She bumbled.

"If you recall Miss Swan, I told you earlier that I have no more work to do today. Have you been to Granny's diner yet?" Regina turned and started walking back out of the door, beckoning Emma to follow her.

"Yeah, Henry and I grabbed drinks there actually. I met this Ruby, she seemed nice. The clothes she wore were a little uh… yeah." Emma laughed, jogging a little to catch up with Regina.

"Revealing?" Regina supplied, her tone clipped.

"To say the least." Emma laughed again but noticed Regina was stone-faced. "Come on, lighten up. What are you jealous?" She joked, nudging the other woman playfully.

"Of course not Miss Swan." Regina snapped, completely forgetting that at this moment in time the blonde to her left had no recollection of their previous arguments. "You think far too highly of yourself."

Emma's internal lie detector binged, but she decided not to push the woman. She obviously had boundaries and Emma had pushed them a bit too far, so she'd become defensive.

"Right, sorry." She tried to rectify. "Seriously though, call me Emma. All this 'Miss Swan' stuff makes me sound old."

Regina followed the change of conversation and accepted it graciously. Maybe Emma had more tact than she had initially thought.

"Maybe you're just getting old, dear." Regina smiled at the other woman. She couldn't resist pushing her buttons.

Emma feigned mock insult. "Well that was rude."

Regina merely chuckled and turned off the pavement when they reached the diner.

The bell jangled above their heads, but unlike that morning, no one turned to stop and stare. Emma was thankful.

Then she noticed that one person was indeed staring. The man looked a little rugged, his face sported stubble and he wore a well-used beanie on his head.

"Mr Cassidy, kindly stop gawking at Storybrooke's _new_ resident. Emma, this is Mr Cassidy. Mr Cassidy, Emma." Regina sighed, finding the man was irking her more than usual today. She decided to introduce them and remind Neal of the situation before he said anything foolish.

She stalked past him and took a seat at the counter, leaving Emma to get re-acquainted with her supposed 'true love'. She didn't understand why the thought annoyed her so, and therefore chalked it down to her not wanting Henry to know his father better than he knew her.

"Uh, right." Neal self-consciously pulled off his beanie and stuffed it in his pocket before rubbing his hand on his coat and holding it out to Emma who took it reluctantly. "Call me Neal." He smiled gingerly at her and she smiled back. Regina fumed. She didn't notice how the smile hadn't reached Emma's eyes.

"Emma." She said, trying to be polite.

"Do you want me to buy you a drink?" He asked her, leading her over to the counter. He sat as far as possible away from Regina, leaving the seat in between them for Emma to climb onto.

"Sure, thanks."

They started engaging in light conversation. Where Emma was from, why she was in Storybrooke, how long she was staying, what Boston was like.

Emma could feel the brunette sitting tensely next to her.

The conversation progressed to sports and they got into an argument about which baseball team was going to win the National League. Emma found that she didn't actually mind talking to the man, so when he asked if she wanted to see the sports bar the following night, she agreed almost instantly.

She thought his intentions were completely innocent, that he was happy he'd found a fellow baseball enthusiast. Regina however, was horrified that Emma appeared to be going on a date with him.

"Miss Sw- Emma. We need to pick Henry up from school. I believe Miss Blanchard wanted to speak with you." She stood and resisted the urge to pull the blonde away from the irritating male. She instead stalked out of the diner in the direction of the school

"Oh, yeah. Of course." Emma had completely forgotten Regina was there and instantly felt bad after she was the one who had hinted at wanting to spend time with her.

"See you tomorrow Emma." Neal, stood and smiled at her.

"Yeah, see you then." She called over her shoulder as she raced out of the diner after Regina.

"Look, I'm really sorry, I feel like a total-"

"Save it Miss Swan." Regina cut Emma's apologies short, "Whatever you want to do with your personal life is entirely up to you. You don't need to justify to me why you wish to go on a date with that mangy beast."

"Wha- date? We're not going on a date!" Emma almost shouted, realisation hitting her as to why the brunette was being quite so cold. "He's just taking me to see the sports bar, you know, because I like sports."

"Well, it sounds like a date to me." Regina bit out. "Actually I've just remembered that I do have some work I should be getting on with. I'm sure you can make your way to your house from here." She growled, making her way to her car as they neared where she'd parked.

"You said you weren't working today." Emma pointed out, calling from the pavement.

"I didn't." Regina glared at her before getting into her car and slamming the door and driving away.

Emma sighed.

_Shit._

***announcer voice* Coming up on Once Upon A Time: Emma must convince Regina it's not a date. The date/not date happens. Someone gets punched (omg guess who, it's like soooooo hard).**

**Please review! It would make my day! I love to hear feedback! Compliments and constructive criticism alike, it's all useful! It would also pressure me into updating faster.**


	7. Chapter 6

Regina has spent that evening fuming. Partly at Emma and partly at herself. Emma because she had instigated spending time with her then decided to completely ignore her and talk instead to her annoying would-be ex. Herself because she allowed herself to show the jealousy she was secretly feeling. Also because she had stormed away in a fit of anger and had therefore had to forfeit time spent with her son. All in all, she'd gone to bed in a terrible mood.

Her mood was still foul when she awoke the next morning, remembering Emma was going on what appeared to be a date. As she washed and dressed she pondered how best to next approach the woman. She had just got her son back. She would see him every day.

The answer didn't come to her until she had been at her desk for almost two hours.

She was looking at the report David had submitted as acting Sheriff and suddenly remembered her plans for the blonde to resume work at the station.

She gathered her things and the necessary paperwork and left her office.

"Please cancel any meeting I have Tinkerbell." She said to the pixie on her way out.

The blonde nodded in response and continued to frown at her computer. Regina's lips twitched upwards as she recalled the verbal abuse Tinkerbell had thrown at the machine when she had walked in that morning.

It was a cold day but the sky was clear and she had decided to walk to and from the Town Hall. The walk to 107 Mifflin Street didn't take too long and before she had gathered her thoughts, she was lifting the brass knocker and rapping it against the wood.

When the door opened, her mouth went dry.

Emma stood before her with sleep-mussed hair, wearing loose tracksuit bottoms and a white tank top with… nothing underneath. She noticed the last thing and gulped.

"She something you like Madame Mayor?" Emma joked opening the door a little wider and motioning the brunette to step inside.

"Miss Swan, do you have any idea what time it is?" She asked incredulously, trying to stem the images of the scantily clad blonde from their second meeting that entered her mind.

"Yep, eleven o'clock in the morning." Emma stated smartly, smirking at the woman before walking into the kitchen, expecting Regina would follow.

"A time where most people are awake and at work." The mayor pointed out, standing next to the breakfast bar that Emma had jumped up on.

"Well if you hadn't noticed, I'm in the process of looking for a new job." The blonde shrugged her shoulders before grabbing an apple out of the fruit bowl. She had gone to the grocery store after Regina had left and she'd picked up Henry from school the day before.

"That's actually one of the reasons I'm here, Miss Swan… Emma." Regina said; the blonde looked at her expectantly. She took a breath and continued, "That and to tell you I'm sorry about leaving prematurely yesterday, I had work to do." Emma nodded. "On the subject of a job, our town is currently lacking a Sheriff, our last moved away recently and while the deputy has been an acceptable temporary replacement, he does not want the job permanently.

"I've looked over the files you sent me and called your references. I actually came here to offer you the job. I'll give you some time to think about it of course, but would appreciate it if you notified me as quickly as possible. I don't want crime to rise in the town."

Emma looked at her, not moving, only blinking.

"Emma?" Regina prodded after a few minutes of silence.

The blonde seemed to snap back to reality, "Uh, yeah, sorry. Thank you so much! Do you have a job description or anything? I mean I'd love the job, but I'd like to see what I'd be doing, what the pay's like etcetera." She looked up hopefully.

Regina smiled in relief and took the files out of her bag. In all honesty, she hadn't considered what she would have done if Emma had turned down the job. The town had no other decent candidates or anyone remotely physically fit.

"I'll leave you to look over the files." She was just turning to let herself out when a thought struck her. "Actually, I was wondering if you needed any help later." She offered.

"Help with what?" Emma asked, glancing up from her files.

Regina took a deep breath, "'Date' or whatever it is, Henry will be home alone for the evening. I would be happy to keep an eye on him while you're out."

Emma's eyes widened, "You'd do that?"

"Of course." Regina replied, smiling.

"Would you mind if I dropped him at your house around seven? I don't plan on being very late, I'll pick him up around ten if that's okay with you?" Emma hopped off the counter and came to stand in front of the brunette.

"That sounds acceptable. I really had better be getting back to the office now, I'll see you at seven." She smiled before turning and leaving.

"See you then." Emma grinned after her.

Both women spent the day thinking about each other.

.

.

The next time Regina saw Emma it was quarter past seven.

"You're late Miss Swan." She teased good-naturedly.

"Hello Madame Mayor." Henry aid politely.

"Hello Henry, please, call me Regina." She smiled warmly at her son.

"Okay Regina!" He smiled back at her and stepped inside to stand behind her. "Whoa!"

"You may go and explore if you want." She said kindly to him, "Though I'd prefer you to stay on the ground floor."

"Thanks!" He grinned before wondering further into the house.

Regina watched him leave before turning back to Emma who stood in the doorway wearing her usual jeans and red jacket.

"He had about half an hour ago, so he shouldn't need anything to eat. He doesn't have any homework yet either, but he has some comics with him to keep himself entertained." Emma smiled, "Thanks again for this."

"It's nothing." Regina's lips upturned, but her smile faded quickly when she saw Neal hopping from foot to foot on the edge of her property.

Emma saw her expression become sour and turned to see what she was looking at.

"I'll say it again, it's not a date, Regina. Don't be jealous." She winked before walking away, leaving a very emotionally confused brunette in her wake.

Regina shut the door, but not before throwing Neal a death glare.

"Henry?" She called out.

The boy appeared almost instantly and she started.

"Yeah?"

"Your mother said you brought comic books with you," She indicate to the bag lung over one shoulder, "But I thought you might prefer to watch a film?"

"What kind of film?" He asked warily, recalling all the times when Emma had forced him to watch chick-flick/high school films with her.

"Well personally, I'm partial to a bit of Marvel. Do you like the Avengers?" She asked, anticipating his reaction.

His eyes widened almost comically, "You like Marvel?!" She smiled and nodded in response, "You're seriously cool!"

She laughed and led him to the den, "The films are in here." She opened the cupboards that flanked the massive flat screen and stepped back to let Henry take his pick. "I know your mother said you've eaten but I'm assuming you'd like popcorn?"

"Yes please." He replied without turning away from the vast array of films on display. He didn't remember that they were all his.

She smiled before walking to the kitchen and came back with a bowl. When she re-entered the room, he was sitting on the floor in front of the television, four remotes laid out in front of him. His face sported an adorably puzzled expression.

"The one on the far left dear." Regina offered sitting at one end of the sofa and placing the popcorn on the coffee table in front of her.

"Thanks." He answered, clicking the red button at the top and slipping the disk into the DVD slot when the screen flickered to life.

"What are we watching?" She asked as he came and sat at the other end of the sofa.

"Thor… and Thor two?" He asked hopefully, looking at her with the puppy dog eyes she was all too familiar with.

"If we have time." She replied amiably as the film started and they relaxed into their respective positions.

.

When the first film had finished, it was just gone nine o'clock.

"If ma gets back at ten, we won't finish the second film." Henry turned to her, frowning.

"That's alright." Regina smiled, "You can take it home and watch the rest tomorrow."

"Really?" He asked.

"Of course. Go on then."

Henry smiled and changed the disks. When he came and sat down again, he sat in the middle of the couch. He did so without thinking about it, and Regina couldn't help but smile.

.

When ten o'clock came, Henry was fast asleep. He had unconsciously moved closer to Regina throughout the film, and when he fell asleep, his head lolled onto her shoulder. She smiled and carefully wrapped an arm around his shoulders. She would have been annoyed with Emma for her tardiness had she not been able to spend such precious time with her son.

It was almost ten thirty when she heard a car door slam outside. Henry heard it too and groggily awoke.

"I believe your mother has returned home. Come on." She said gently, helping him off the couch and grabbing his bag. He took the DVD from the machine and placed it in his bag with her nod of consent before the two of them walked to the front door.

As they approached it, they noticed shouting coming from outside and both sped up. Regina opened the door to see a startled but furious Emma standing on the pavement. As the door had opened, Neal had stepped forwards and kissed her, Regina and Henry saw Emma push him off her the second their lips touched.

"What the hell?!" She near shouted.

"Come on Em." He coaxed, he moved closer and tried to lean in and kiss her again.

She shoved him backwards and kneed him in the crotch.

"Come on what?! We barely know each other! I thought you were just inviting me out to show me the local watering hole! Jesus Christ!" She fumed and shook her head in disbelief at his double-over form. "And don't you dare call me 'Em'! My name is Emma! Jeez!"

"Emma, please." Neal tried to straighten and reached towards her again, but before Emma could react, Henry had pushed past Regina –who had been trying to hide the unfolding scene from his view- and was sprinting down the path.

He ran at Neal and sent him sprawling onto the road.

"Henry!" Both women called immediately and Regina made her way down her path towards the dysfunctional family.

"Leave my mum alone!" He screamed at Neal.

Who looked at him as though he didn't understand what was happening.

"Henry." Emma said again, more calmly this time, "Come into the house." She turned and led him by the shoulders over the road to 107.

"It's your fault." Neal accused, picking himself off the ground and turning to Regina.

"Oh I'm sorry Mister Cassidy, what exactly is my fault?" She challenged, taking a step closer to him.

"When you gave them new memories, you made sure I wasn't in them!" He whispered harshly, ensuring the subjects of the tense conversation couldn't hear.

"That is correct." Regina nodded dismissively.

"Why?" He asked, "When she didn't recognise me yesterday I was content to go along with it. I thought maybe we could meet again; things would go better this time!"

"And what about when Emma got her memories back?" Regina countered, "Would she still feel the same way about you?"

Neal didn't respond, he merely looked at the ground and let out a breath he'd been holding.

"Why?" He questioned, almost weakly.

"Because I don't see you as a fit role model for my son, and his mother appeared as though she would rather forget you. I didn't think we'd ever see them again. Your contribution to their lives was expendable. They have each other. It would have been more than enough." She snarled at him.

"You bitch!" He muttered as he turned to walk away.

Unfortunately, Emma chose this moment to come back outside after settling Henry.

"Leave her the hell alone!" She said furiously, walking over to the pair. "Actually, leave the three of us the hell alone. Regina was right about your intentions. I wish I'd listened to her."

Neal looked at the two women standing next to each other, both glaring daggers at him. He turned around and fled to his car. Neither lady moved until he was well out of sight.

Emma turned to Regina slowly.

"I'm sorry. I was… an idiot for not listening to you." She sighed and Regina looked at her.

"So it was a date?" She asked hoarsely.

"No!" Emma's eyes widened in horror, "No, no, no! Not to me! I really didn't think it was!" She looked down and kicked at a stone on the pavement. "Apparently he did though." She sighed tiredly.

Regina nodded slightly and looked away.

"I know this is probably totally inappropriate, but would you mind checking on Henry? I'm so angry, I don't want him to see me like this." Emma asked, her voice small and afraid.

"Certainly." Regina replied and followed the blonde into the house across the street.

"His is the first bedroom on the left." Emma waved her hand in the direction of the stairs and Regina walked up and knocked softly on Henry's door.

She received no reply and pushed it open. The sight that greeted her broke her heart.

Henry was sitting on top on his duvet, holding his knees as tears tracked down his face. He looked up at her when she entered and tried to stifle his sobs.

"Oh Henry." She whispered and her voice was enough for him to break down.

Regina walked quickly over and sat on the bed next to him, wrapping her arms around him. He immediately leaned into her embrace and she let him cry into her shirt. She didn't know how long it took for him to stop sobbing, but when he did, she realised it was because he'd fallen asleep.

She carefully extricated herself from his grip and eased him gently so he was lying down. Pulling the duvet from under his legs, she laid it on top him and tucked him in.

She had missed this. Tucking her baby boy in for bed.

She leaned forwards and placed a soft kiss to his temple in one final attempt to ease his anger and hurt, before making her way back downstairs.

She found Emma sitting on a stool in the kitchen, a glass of water on the counter in front of her.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

Emma nodded.

"Henry didn't want to talk." She said softly, sliding into the seat next to Emma.

"I know. I heard him crying." The blonde admitted.

"He'll be alright," Regina reassured her. "He just doesn't want anyone to hurt you."

Emma nodded again.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Regina said after a length of silence, she got off her stool and walked back through the house. She was just about to close the white front door behind her when she felt a hand take her wrist.

She turned to see the blonde looking at her earnestly.

"Thank you Regina. For… everything. This evening and otherwise. The evening especially."

"It's nothing." Regina brushed off.

"No, it's most definitely is something." Emma looked her straight in the eyes and moved her face closer to the brunette's.

Regina's breath caught it her throat and the blonde's face came closer to hers. She saw green eyes looking into hers. She felt time slow down and hot breath on her lips.

She closed her eyes in anticipation.

Soft lips brushed against the corner of her mouth and trailed to her cheek where they planted a kiss on her olive skin. She inhaled a deep breath, opening her eyes to see the blonde still standing very close to her.

"I didn't want to think he meant it as a date." She admitted softly, "But what was even worse was knowing that you thought it was one."

Neither knew how much time they spent standing on Emma's porch staring into each other's eyes.

"I'll see you tomorrow Regina." Emma finally said, tearing her gaze from Regina's and closing the door softly.

Regina turned and walked back to her own house. She couldn't stop the intense fluttering that had settled at the bottom of her stomach.

.

.

When Regina had kissed Henry goodnight, she had closed her eyes. This meant that she didn't see the rainbow band of energy that radiated out from them, as though they were an epicentre.

.

.

**Eeek! This is definitely my favourite chapter to write so far! I just had to crash Swanfire so I'm sorry if anyone ships them but come on, you're reading a Swan Queen fanfiction… what did you expect?**

**I received a request asking to make the chapters longer… so here is a chapter that exceeds the other by 1,000 words! I just sort of started writing and didn't stop. **

**Please review! It's terribly good motivation.**


	8. Chapter 7

Regina was awoken the next morning by an incessant banging on her front door. She frowned at the sound and put a hand to her head as the previous evening came back to her. She and Emma had almost… they'd almost kissed. A smile graced her features before the hammering on oak brought her back to reality.

She looked at the clock next to her bed, it was 8.15. She swung her legs out of bed and grabbed her robe from the back of her bedroom door, slipping it on as she made her way downstairs. Someone was still knocking on (/down) her door and she opened it without checking who was there first.

"Henry?" She asked. Her son was standing in front of her, his knuckles red from knocking and tears streaming down his face.

"Mum!" He shouted and threw his arms around her waist, letting his tears stain her satin pyjama top.

Regina couldn't breathe. He remembered her. Her baby boy remembered her. She tightened her arms around him and held him close to her. She never wanted to let go of him.

After an unknown amount of time the two broke apart and she pulled him inside her house, shutting the door behind him before kneeling down to be at his level.

"I remember." He breathed smiling at her.

"What exactly do you remember, Henry?" She asked, taking his face in her hands and running her thumbs down his cheeks in an attempt to remove the tear tracks.

"Everything! You're my mum, you adopted me and my name is Henry Daniel Mills. When I was ten, I ran away to find my birthmother, Emma. She broke the curse and no one trusted you for ages, not even me." He looked down, ashamed. "But you proved to everyone that you've changed, you're not the Evil Queen. You and ma saved me from Pan, but he'd already re-cast your curse. You had to destroy the curse and you sent Emma and me away. You gave us new memories, but they weren't new. My memories with Emma were ones that I'd had with you. You just put Emma there instead. But I remember now, I remember everything!" He finished, throwing his arms around her neck again.

"I love you so much Henry. Never forget that." She breathed, planting a soft kiss into his hair. Tears were now falling down her face as well.

"I love you too mum." He smiled at her, before his features contorted into a look of distress. "But mum, Emma doesn't remember. Why do I remember when she doesn't?" He asked, looking at her as though she could answer anything in the world.

"Well," Regina thought logically, "How are curses broken?"

"True loves kiss." Henry reeled off diligently.

"Not necessarily Henry." She replied and frowned at her in question. "I know what your grandmother says, but technical, an act of true love, breaks any curse. The kiss of your true love merely falls under this category. Obviously you have to have admitted the feelings to yourself and each other before it will work however." She explained and Henry nodded in understanding.

"So how did you make remember?" He asked and Regina thought back to the night before, replaying the evening in her mind before it hit her.

"Last night, after you had finally gone to sleep, I kissed your forehead. It was an attempt to somehow stop your suffering. I suppose it was an act of true love." She smiled kindly at him and he smiled back.

"Now we just need to find a way for ma to remember!" Henry said excitedly, "Could I kiss her on the cheek? Like you did?"

Regina frowned, "I'm afraid that unless Miss Swan is hurt or in danger, that won't work. It has to be an act of the truest love, where all you want is for the subject to be okay."

Henry nodded slowly, "Okay, then we need to find her true love?" he looked up hopefully.

"I suppose." Regina replied, bristling slightly.

"But it's not Neal. Otherwise she would have remembered last night. Do you think they're in Storybrooke? Do you think we know them? What if she doesn't find them? What if she doesn't remember?" He asked, becoming increasingly upset.

"It's alright Henry." Regina said reassuringly, "We'll find a way to ensure Emma gets her memories back. I promise."

Henry seemed to relax at her words and she smiled at having consoled him. It was then however that she noticed he had his uniform on and his schoolbag slung over his shoulder.

"Henry, you're going to be late for school!" She scolded.

"Sorry mum, I'll run. Besides, I don't think grams will mind once I tell her I remember." He grinned at her before kissing her cheek and opening the door.

"I'll see you later, darling." She smiled at him and kissed the top of his head. He hugged her one last time before taking off down her path.

She took a deep breath and grinned.

She could tell that this day was going to be good.

That said, she wondered how Emma was.

She looked across the road but saw no movement coming from the windows. She went back upstairs and quickly changed before making her way over the road.

She knocked twice on the white door, but received no reply.

"Emma?" She called out and knocked again.

Still no answer. She tested the handle and found it unlocked.

"Emma?" Regina made her way up the stairs and towards the master bedroom. She gently pushed open the door and chuckled at the sight that lay before her.

Emma lay, tangled in sheets, her arms curled around her pillow, her hair sticking out at all angles.

Regina walked over to the window and whipped open the curtains. Behind her Emma stirred.

"What're you doing Henry? What time izzit?" She mumbled and turned to face Regina who stood with her hands on her hips, an amused expression on her face.

"Henry is already at school, dear." She replied, and Emma jumped into a sitting position, pulling at her hair and rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"Oh shit! I totally overslept!" Emma exclaimed, "Did he eat? Is he changed? Is he mad at me?" She asked, looking for answers in Regina –much the same way her son had done earlier that morning.

"He's presentable and by no means angry with you. Judging by the empty dishes I saw in the sink on my way up here, he has also eaten." Regina replied calmly.

"Actually, why are you here?" Emma asked, realising how offensive that could sound, "Not that I don't want you here, I mean, uh, you know what I mean."

Regina chuckled again and perched on the end of the bed.

"Before Henry left for school he asked me to check on you." She invented, "To make sure you were alright."

"Oh, well, thanks…" Emma trailed off when the events of the previous night came flooding back to her. Her cheeks tinted on memory and wondered how the other woman was feeling about it all. She had decided to come and see her and was currently smiling at her, while she sat in her bed… with no pyjama bottoms on… Emma suddenly realised and her eyes went wide.

"What's wrong dear?" Regina asked, confusion marring her features.

"Nothing. I just," Emma paused, looking at the other woman who had leaned forwards slightly at her low volume, "I'm not wearing much." She laughed slightly and Regina jumped off the bed.

"Oh, yes, of course! I'm sorry. I'd better be getting to work now anyway." She stammered, turning and locating the door.

"Regina!" Emma called after her, not quite ready to let the woman go so quickly. The brunette stopped and faced her again. "I've been thinking about the Sheriff job, I'll just be a minute. If you want wait downstairs?"

Regina smiled and nodded before exiting the bedroom and making her way downstairs.

Emma quickly threw back the covers and leapt from her bed, she chuck things out of her draws in her hurry to get dressed and her bedroom was a mess by the time the exited it five minutes later wearing skinny jeans and a red, semi-transparent blouse.

"Sorry." The blonde brushed as she came into the kitchen and saw the brunette sitting on a stool by the breakfast bar.

"That's quite alright." Regina smiled in reply and Emma started pouring cereal for herself.

"Do you want anything?" She asked and Regina shook her head politely.

"No thank you. You did however mentioned you have been thinking about the job?" She pressed, eager for an answer.

"Yeah," Emma smiled, "I'd love it! I mean there's obviously not a lot of crime in Storybrooke right now… or ever I'm going to guess. But the force is what I'm used to. I can find people. It's kind of my thing."

Regina laughed lightly, "I'm glad you've accepted the job. Do you know where the station is?" Emma nodded, "You'd best go down there this morning and talk to your f-David." Regina smiled, trying to gloss over her almost-mess up. "I would come with you, but I'm afraid my workload is currently piled rather high." She saw Emma's face fall slightly and Regina rushed to reconcile. "I still have to go over the necessary paperwork however, so how about we meet for lunch at Granny's at say, one o'clock?"

"Great." Emma grinned at her.

"I'd really better be going." Regina smiled back and got off the stool, Emma followed her to the front door to say goodbye. "I'll see you at one Miss Swan, try not to be late." she jested.

"See you then!" Emma called after her and shut the door softly, still smiling.

.

.

After arriving at the station, Emma had explained the situation to David –a nice man, she decided, if he did appear to be a bit emotional. He'd been more than happy to help her fill in all the paperwork she'd need to give to Regina and gave her the badge.

After that he'd taken her on patrol in the cruiser –an excuse to show her the main features of the town. Emma was glad that not all men in this town were total tools.

By twelve fifty, she was already sitting in a booth in the diner. She definitely didn't want to be late.

"Well Miss Swan, I am impressed!" Emma turned in her seat to see Regina smirking at her. "Not on time, but early!" She slid into the seat opposite the blonde who, she noticed was giving her a funny look. "What?" She asked, smoothing her hair self-consciously.

"If you're going to insist on 'Miss Swan' I'll start calling you 'Miss Mills'." Emma pointed out, but a smile ghosted over her lips.

"Right, I'm sorry. _Emma._" Regina amended and they both smiled, catching each other's eyes before looking away, both blushing slightly.

"What can I get you ladies?" Ruby interrupted their moment, all legs and lips.

Emma gestured for Regina to order first, "I'll take a chicken salad and coffee please."

"Cheeseburger and hot chocolate please Rubes." Emma smiled at the waitress who sauntered off.

"How you can eat such unhealthy food amazes me." Regina stated.

"What? Cheeseburgers are delicious!" Emma defended her eating habits.

"Well, I wouldn't know." Regina admitted.

"What?!" Emma exclaimed, "You've never had a cheeseburger?!" Regina shook her head, "What about hot dogs?" A raised eyebrow. "Pizza?" A small shrug. "Right, that's it. It's Friday night, and in my household, Friday night is pizza night. You have to join Henry and I!"

"Are you sure?" Regain asked, not quite believing the words.

"Yeah!" Emma replied enthusiastically.

"Well, thank you." Regina smiled shyly at the blonde.

"Here you are ladies." Ruby came back over with their food. They both expressed their thanks before turning to their food.

"Oh!" Emma suddenly remembered the files she'd left resting on the seat next to her. She picked them up and slid them across the table to Regina. "David helped me fill them out."

"Oh yes." Regina took the papers and quickly thumbed through them. "These seem fine, I'll just have to process them. Have you got the badge?"

"Yep." Emma smiled proudly and stood up as far as the table would allow to show Regina who nodded approvingly.

She sat down and they continued eating in companionable silence.

While neither had said a word about their almost, sort of kiss the night before, they'd most certainly both been thinking about it. Neither however, wanted to push it with the other.

As they ate, conversation naturally filtered back in and subjects turned to Henry.

"How's he liking his new school? I didn't get a chance to ask him last night." Regina asked, setting her knife and fork on the plate in front of her, dabbing at her mouth with the paper napkin.

"I think he's really enjoying it." Emma replied, doing the same, just a little less regally. "He said his teacher's nice and all of the kids are making a fuss of him, but not in a bad way. Personally I reckon he's got a crush on this one girl, Paige. What can you tell me about her?" Emma leaned forwards, whispering conspiratorially.

Regina chuckled and leaned in too, "She's Jefferson's daughter, our local… hat designer. A little eccentric and he and I don't get along too well but the girl is nice enough."

Emma smirked, leaning in even further if possible, "How is that possible?" She asked.

"Pardon?" Regina frowned.

"How could anyone not get along with you?" Emma breathed.

Both had completely forgotten about the fact that they were sitting in a crowded diner, they could only focus on the woman across from them.

Regina sucked in a breath and bit her bottom lip, gazing into the bottomless green pools that were Emma's eyes.

Emma noticed that Regina's hand was sitting on the table, and, feeling bold. She reached forwards and ghosted her fingers over Regina's knuckles before turning her hand over and lacing their fingers together.

They both leant in a little more, their breathing synchronised, their eyes locked. Emma felt her nose brush lightly against Regina's and parted her lips.

"What the hell?!" A loud shout from next to their booth brought them both crashing back down to reality and they sprung apart. Their hands however, remained connected as they looked at the fuming young man who was glaring at them.

"You brush me off for the hard-assed Mayor?!" Neal exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Emma.

"What?!" Emma asked indignantly, "I didn't 'brush you off' for Regina! I didn't want anything to do with you because you were presumptuous and pushy and downright rude!"

Emma felt Regina pull her hand back and looked at her in confusion. The brunette was looking down, as though trying to avoid someone's gaze and Emma looked up to see the entirety of customers looking at them.

"Regina." She tried, but the brunette was already gathering her bag and slipped quickly out of the seat. The diner bell jangled as the door closed behind her.

Emma stood up and scowled at Neal, fishing in her pocket and slapping some notes on the table. "I told you last night to leave us the hell alone. I meant it." She turned to leave, her hand reached the handle before she turned back around and advanced on Neal again. "And don't you ever insult Regina again. She is ten times the person you will ever be."

With that she stormed out of the diner. She reached the end of the pathway and whipped her head from side to side. She saw Regina disappearing around a corner, heading in the direction of the town hall.

She started running after her, "Regina!" She called upon seeing the brunette. "Regina!"

The aforementioned woman didn't stop walking however and it took Emma a while to catch up with her. When she did, she gently took her hand. Said hand was immediately retracted and Emma tried to hide the hurt that flickered across her face.

Regina stood, facing her, but looking at the ground. Emma gulped.

"Henry and I will have pizza at seven, please come." She said quietly but received no reply. She was about to walk away when Regina placed a hand on her forearm, causing her to look up in surprise.

She could see tears in chocolate orbs as Regina moved forwards and pressed a soft kiss on her cheek.

"I'll see you at seven."

**Sorry for the long update time but I am rather swamped at the moment! I feel quite evil, this is the second chapter I've ended with an almost-kiss. Oops? Please don't hate me!**

**Please review! It makes me super happy!**


	9. Chapter 8

Emma looked at the clock nervously. 6.55. What if Regina didn't come?

She was currently sitting on her couch, the news was on to provide background noise as she waited to see if the brunette would come. Said brunette had been occupying her thoughts since she'd left the diner. She couldn't stop thinking about the woman's gorgeous olive skin, her sensual clothes and her raw, sexy voice. While the woman was undoubtedly attractive, Emma couldn't help but think that maybe her feelings ran deeper.

She knew it was ridiculous –she barely knew Regina, but at the same time, she felt as though they'd known each other for their entire lives. Maybe they'd known each other in a previous life, Emma mused, or in some strange parallel universe.

6.56.

Henry was currently in the large study finishing off his homework. He'd been in the best mood when he got home from school, regaling her with tales of the fun he had had that day in class. He said how the children had seemed to accept him already and acted as though he had been there his entire life. He prompted her after saying this, asking if she felt that way about the town, or one person in particular. She had gulped and shook her head, but a certain brunette had floated into her mind's eye.

The kid had gone on and on about how his teacher Miss Blanchard was so lovely. She remembered him saying they spent half the day outside, looking at the animals around the school grounds. Henry had said how it was almost as if Miss Blanchard could talk to animals, she had thought that was odd but brushed it off anyway.

Henry had been grinning while talking to her, however, his smiled widened impossibly so when she told him that she'd invited Regina to join them for dinner.

6.57.

She supposed Henry must have taken quite a liking to the woman after she'd looked after him for the night. And the way she'd told Neal to leave them all alone. Even thinking about the previous night made her feel nauseous. The only consolation was her almost-kiss with Regina.

The moment had been pure tension, both waiting to see if the other would snap first. Emma had wanted nothing more than to kiss the brunette senseless in that moment, hold her face between her hands and meld their mouths together. But she couldn't. She'd drunk a little that evening and she was overly emotional. She didn't want to make a mistake when she wasn't thinking straight.

However, that day in the diner, it became clear that it wasn't just her intoxicated mind that wanted the other woman. Again, they had almost kissed, but this time, it wasn't either of them who had stopped it.

Her hatred for Neal had grown in that moment and she'd wanted nothing better that to punch the man. However, her need to follow Regina was greater and that had eventually won out.

6.58.

When she'd finally caught up with the woman, the exchange had been near tearful. She realised that, like herself, Regina was unaccustomed to letting people into her life. She didn't want to push her but at the same time wondered how much longer she could go before tasting the woman's lips.

Two minutes.

What if the woman didn't show?

Emma ran a hand through her hair roughly, catching numerous knots. She sighed and stood from the couch, making her way through the house to her bedroom and grabbing her hairbrush from her vanity. She tugged at the knots until the brush ran smoothly through her hair.

6.59

She set the brush down before walking over to her full-length mirror. She didn't know why she was making such an effort, especially now that she was even doubting that Regina would show. She looked at her own green eyes in the mirror and made a face at herself, trying to calm her nerves.

She heard Henry moving about downstairs and made her own way down.

"Have you finished your homework?" She asked as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes ma." He grinned at her.

"Shall we order pizza?" She asked him and he frowned.

"But Regina isn't here yet." He pointed out.

"Look kid she'd not here yet and it's…" Emma pointed to the clock as it showed:

7.00.

The doorbell rang and Henry gave her an 'I told you so' look.

"Go and wash your hands then." She urged him and he disappeared to one of the numerous bathrooms that resided in the house.

Emma sighed heavily and pushed some hair out of her face before making her way to the front door. She opened it to see Regina biting her lip and looking at the ground, seeming surprisingly vulnerable in that moment.

"Hi." Emma coaxed with a small smile.

Regina looked up and smiled shyly, "Hi."

"Can I take your coat?" Emma asked, stepping aside and letting Regina walk into the foyer.

"Thank you." Regina said, shrugging out of it and handing it to her.

Emma placed the coat under the stairs. There were three pegs for coats. One was hers, one was Henry's, she put Regina's on the third one before turning back to the woman.

"About earlier," Emma started, but Regina quickly held up a hand, effectively cutting her off.

"Let's not. At least not right now while Henry is around, he doesn't need to know." She justified, "Why don't we just have a nice evening." She smiled at the blonde hopefully.

Henry chose this moment to walk in, "Ma, I can't find the phone book, can you look for it?" he asked.

"Okay kid, why don't you take Regina into the living and help her pick out a movie?" Emma suggested before moving into the kitchen.

Henry made sure she was out of sight before throwing himself at his brunette mother.

"Hey mum." He grinned into her shoulder.

Regina planted a kiss in his mop of hair, "Hello darling." She pulled back and grinned at him. "Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah, everyone was so happy I knew who they all were." He smiled as he led her into the lounge. "I realised something though." He looked at his mother hesitantly, "I was thinking about dad, and how I remember him now."

Regina opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by her son.

"I mean, I get why he was trying to get with ma… but he shouldn't have treated her like that! I can't believe he did! I mean, how could he? I…" Henry paused but continued after a reassuring nod from Regina, "I don't think I want to spend much time with him. I mean, not as much as I used to. It feels like he's changed."

Regina nodded at this, using her best poker face to hide her inner elation.

"Whatever you want sweetheart, however, don't you think it would be best if we picked out a film before your mother comes back in?"

"Okay mum." Henry grinned at her, "Avengers?" He winked at her, taking the film off the shelf.

"Whatever you want, darling." She smiled at him before settling on one side of the sofa.

Emma walked back in and Regina turned to look at her, "Right, I found the phone book but there are like three different pizza places. Regina, any suggestions?" She asked, coming and sitting down next to the brunette as Henry set the DVD up.

Regina drew a breath at their close proximity; she could smell the blonde's vanilla and cinnamon perfume and had to clear her head before replying.

"Gaston's is the best in town from what I've heard." She said, pointing to the number on the page.

"I'll take your word for it." Emma smiled at her and she returned the sentiment. "What do you want to eat, kid?" She asked Henry, who was still trying to work the relatively new television.

"Large pepperoni?" He asked, looking hopefully at Emma. Then he noticed his brunette mother's sceptical expression and mumbled, "With mushrooms please."

Regina smirked and Henry smiled sheepishly at her.

"Regina, what would you like?" Emma asked the brunette, as she stood and grabbed the phone from its cradle on the mantelpiece.

"Small margarita please." The brunette replied, "I don't want to be too adventurous." She added.

Emma smiled, "Okay, I'll order. Start the film without me." She said walking into the hall.

Henry took her vacated seat next to Regina and pressed play on the remote. Emma joined them shortly and they watched in relative silence for about twenty minutes until the pizza arrived.

"I'll get it!" Henry said excitedly, jumping out of his seat and bounding towards the door, grabbing his mother's purse on the way.

"How much was my pizza?" Regina asked Emma, rummaging in her pocket and pulling out her wallet.

"It's on me." Emma replied, taking the hand holding the wallet to stop the brunette from protesting.

"Thank you, Emma." Regina smiled shyly and they both moved unconsciously closer to each other.

Henry ran back in and gave them all their respective pizzas. Regina took hers with a 'thank you' and carefully opened the box, eyeing the greasy morsel with a critical eye. She looked up to see both Henry and Emma staring at her, waiting for her to take her first bite. She sighed and rolled her eyes before delicately picking up a slice and moving it to her lips, biting the pointed corner off the triangle.

Henry and Emma both leaned in, waiting for her reaction with wide eyes.

"And?!" They both cried at the exact same time.

"Not as bad as I'd thought." Regina replied, taking a second bite.

Henry laughed and it was Emma's turn to roll her eyes as they dug into their own food.

They all finished their food quickly and collectively moved closer together on the couch as they finished watching the movie.

When the end credits rolled, Emma looked over to see her son's head on Regina's shoulder the woman's head resting atop her Henry's.

She quickly pulled out her phone, snapping a picture of the two before carefully shaking the pair of brunettes awake.

"You need to go to bed kid." Emma said softly as Henry got off the sofa, still half asleep.

"G'night." He mumbled in reply, dragging his feet as he made his way out of the room and up the stairs.

Emma turned back to see Regina rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"Sorry, I must have just drifted off." She apologised, refusing to look at the blonde next to her.

"It's fine." Emma replied with a smile. "Are you too tired for another movie?"

"Not at all." Regina looked up and gave her a radiant smile. "Preferably one without superheroes however."

Emma laughed and walked over to the cabinet, "Imagine Me and You?" She asked, holding it up for the brunette to see.

"Okay, I've never seen it." Regina replied, moving closer to the middle of the sofa and resting her elbow on the back of it.

Emma slipped the disk into the machine and walked back over to the sofa, sitting back down next to the arm rest and pulling a throw from the arm of the settee, covering their legs with it.

"You must have seen it!" Emma exclaimed, turning to face the woman next to her and beckoning her closer.

Regina shook her head and complied, moving so she was sitting thigh to thigh with the woman.

"Well you're going to love it." Emma claimed boldly.

"Oh I am, am I?" Regina laughed and nudged the blonde before turning to properly face the TV.

"Yes," Regina felt Emma's breath on the back of her neck and moved her back to lean against the blonde's front, feeling strong arms wrap around her small frame.

Neither questioned it. It felt right.

They stayed in that position for most of the film, Regina only turning slightly in Emma's arms so she could lay her lead against the blonde's chest.

After about an hour however, they both seemed to forget about the film. Regina turned completely in Emma's arms and looked into green pools.

"We need to talk about earlier." She said seriously.

"What about earlier in particular?" Emma asked, squirming uncomfortably.

She suddenly noticed that Regina had moved her head closer to hers, there was now only a few inches separating their lips. She looked into chocolate brown orbs and noticed that the brunette's gaze resided on her lips.

"Were we going to kiss?" Regina breathed, brown eyes flicking back to green.

They could both feel the tension building between them. The film was still playing but neither of them could hear it, all they could hear was their synchronised breathing.

Regina could feel Emma's breath against her lips and nose and her own lip caught between her teeth as she waited for an answer.

Emma nodded slowly, barely moving her said, "I think we were." She admitted.

Regina nodded in response and took a deep breath, steeling herself up for what she was about to say.

"Well then, what are you waiting for?"

Emma didn't need any more confirmation of the brunette's feelings towards her. She slowly moved forwards, feeling Regina's nose brush against her own. She ghosted her lips over the other woman's and revelled on the shudder it incurred. She let her tongue slip past her lips, wetting her own and the brunette's in the process before finally closing the gap between them.

Regina waited an eternity for Emma's lips to press against hers and once they did she realised there was no going back. The blonde's lips were smooth and sweet and moved perfectly, in time with her own as her hands moved up to cup the pale skin of Emma's face. She felt the blonde's own hands tentatively trailing down her sides, from her waist to her hips and she moaned into the kiss, moving her hands around to the back on the blonde's head and tugging her closer.

Emma gasped as she felt herself being pulled flush against the brunette and said woman took the opportunity to slip her tongue between pale pink lips. The blonde reciprocated and soon the soft, hesitant kisses were discarded and they were lying on the couch, making out like two teenagers.

Regina pulled back when the need for air became a priority and stared down at the blonde. She was on top of Emma and leant down again to capture swollen lips in a chaste kiss.

"As lovely as this has been," Regina began and her voice was raw and hoarse. "I really should be getting home. I wouldn't want this to go any further with Henry in the house, but if I stayed much longer, I don't know if I'd be able to stop myself." She admitted, getting off the blonde and holding out her hand to help her up.

Emma took the offered hand and stood from the couch, using her hold on the other woman to tug them together again in another passionate kiss. She pulled back when they were both breathless once more.

"We're," Kiss. "Not," Kiss. "Just, going," Kiss. "To pretend," Kiss. "This," Kiss. "Never," Kiss, "Happened," Kiss. "Right?" Kiss. She asked, green eyes pausing to look earnestly into brown.

"I don't think we could if we wanted to." Regina replied breathlessly, leading the blonde to the front door by the hand.

Emma grabbed her coat quickly and slipped it around her shoulders before leaning in and kissing her deeply again. As they kissed Regina walked them backwards to the front door.

"Good." Emma said, grinning as Regina pulled the door open and turning to face the blonde as she stood on the porch.

She was going to leave, but thought better of it and pulled Emma into one last searing kiss.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked, still holding the blonde close.

"Bright and early." Emma grinned at her before kissing her for one last time.

Regina pulled away reluctantly, leaving their hands joined as she walked backwards.

Emma stood in the doorway, clutching Regina's fingers until the distance became too great and their hands lost contact. She missed it instantly.

"See you soon Emma." Regina threw a final smile at Emma before hurrying across the street to her own house.

Emma closed the door and leaned against it, her hands touching her lips.

That woman.

**Long wait! I know and I'm sorry but I haven't been very well. It finally happened though! I figured I did make you wait long enough! **

**Please review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!**


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